Cleaning compounds are well recognized in the prior art, in fact, the different types of cleaners are almost as diverse as the ways in which they are employed. Unfortunately, a common characteristic or trait of most cleaners is a strong and distinct odor or aroma.
While most cleaners are either employed in closed systems or in such relatively small amounts in open environments, as to not produce an overly offensive olfactory response in humans, it is well recognized that the senses are not as well developed in humans as they are in other animals and marine life.
It is further well recognized that both fish and game are very sensitive to foreign aromas, odors and the like; and, as a result, a body of prior art patents has been developed involving lures, attractants and masking compounds. Examples of some of the aforementioned prior art compounds may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,874,048; 3,666,669; 3,822,211 and 3,421,899.
In addition to the above cited prior art, there are numerous commercially available masking scents such as pine and cedar oils and skunk, fox and deer urine which are normally applied in the vicinity of a gun or bowhunter to mask the human odor from game animals.
While these particular scents may in some instances be applied directly to a hunter's clothes, boots or hat, they are rarely employed in that manner for both aesthetic and practical considerations and, the usual placement of these scents is in the vicinity of the hunter in a downwind direction.
It should also be noted that due to the expense and the materials employed in most modern shotguns, rifles and compound bows, it is both impractical, undesirable and in some instances actually harmful to apply these scent compositions to the surface of a weapon.
Some of the deleterious and impractical results of applying undiluted or ulaltered scent compositions directly to the surface of a weapon are the staining of wooden stocks and bow limbs, the penetration of the scent into the porous wood components, the rapid evaporation of liquid scent compositions on bare metal components, the promotion of rust on the metal components and, the pitting and etching of the metal components due to the acid content of the urine based scents.
Up until the development of the present invention, hunters had no other alternative than to use an odiferous cleaner to keep their weapon clean; and then while actually engaged in the act of hunting, employ a separate and distinct masking scent to counteract the tell-tale aroma produced by the cleaner.